Our Shaykh
* An outstanding Scholar of Arabic Language and Literature;
* Received the national award for ‘Outstanding Arabic Scholar’ in 1997 CE conferred by former president of India: Dr. S. D. Sharma;
* Received the prestigious Madihur Rasool Sadaqatullah Appa Award 2012 CE for outstanding Arabic Scholar, from the Department of Arabic, Persian & Urdu, University of Madras, India (see archives*);
* Deeply learned in the Glorious Qur’aan and Sunnah;
* Majored in English Language and Literature (University of Madras, India);
* Holds M.Phil. and Ph.D. Degrees in Arabic Philology from the University of Al-Azhar (Cairo);
* Formerly Professor of Arabic Language for 30 years at the International Islaamic University of Madinah;
* Has taught Arabic Language at many Universities around the world such as Islaamic University, Madinah, Islaamic University, Omdurman, Sudan, Khartoum University, Sudan, Germany, Washington D.C. and British Guyana;
* Has been teaching Arabic as a foreign language for more than 50 years;
* An expert on European Languages: their etymology, phonetic change and semantic development;
*Formerly the Director of the ‘Institute of Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language’, Islaamic University of Madinah;
* Currently the Director of the Translation Centre at the ‘King Fahd Glorious Qur’aan Printing Complex’ (Madinah, Saudi Arabia), and has been serving as its Director for over 15 years.
V. Abdur Rahim was born in the small town of Vaniyambadi in the state of Tamil Nadu, India in 1933. After finishing his secondary school studies, he joined Presidency College, University of Madras where he majored in English Language and Literature. He graduated in 1957. In 1964, he joined al-Azhar University, Cairo, where he did his M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Arabic Philology.
It is to be noted that Abdur Rahim learnt Arabic by himself at the early stages. The school where he did his secondary school studies offered Arabic, but the lessons it offered consisted of only memorizing the conjugation tables. Abdur Rahim detested this method. He thought that it was the most unnatural way of learning a language. Only dead languages like Latin, Syriac, etc. are taught this way. Living languages teach sentences straightaway. He decided to design a curriculum to teach Arabic to non-native speakers of Arabic.
In 1969, he joined the Islamic University of Madinah to teach Arabic Philology. Here, he was also associated with the Programme of teaching Arabic as a foreign language. The course he designed for this purpose is now known as دروسُ اللغةِ العربيةِ لـغير الناطقين بـها Durûs al-Lughah al-‘Arabiyyah li-Ghair al-Nâtiqîna Bihâ. (Now these books are popularly known throughout the world as “MADINAH BOOKS”.)
When he was learning Arabic by himself, Abdur Rahim studied the many problems that beset the non-native students of Arabic, and tried to solve them. He discovered that all these problems can easily be solved by applying the principle of ِتقديمُ الأصولِ على الفروع taqdîm al- usûl ‘ala al-furû‘, i.e. teaching the primary elements before the secondary elements. The following are some of the manifestations of the application of this principle:
1 Teaching the primary case-endings before the secondary endings, so you teach the masrûf noun before the mamnû‘ min al-sarf, and the al-af‘âl al-arba‘ah before the al-af‘âl al-khamsah.
2 Teaching the sâlim verb before the other categories.
3 Teaching the al-mudâri‘ al-marfû ‘ before the al-mudâri‘ al-mansûb or al-mudâri‘ al-majzûm.
4 Teaching the plural of intelligent nouns before that of non-intelligent nouns.
Another principle Abdur Rahim advocates is that rules of waqf should not be applied during the teaching stage, for in that case the student cannot learn the correct ending of the last word in the sentence as, ma smu-ka and ma smu-ki, for example, are both reduced to ma smu-k.
The following are the books Dr. Abdur Rahim has written in the field of teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language:
1. ‘Let’s Begin to Read Arabic : A Beginners Guide to Learning the Arabic Language and the Qur’aan’
2. ‘AL-TIBYAAN - Easy way to Qur’aanic Reading’: Book and Audio CD. This course has proven to reduce the learning time through an unconventional teaching approach (NEW Deluxe release) (See Beginner’s Library)
3.
‘Arabic Course for Non-Native Speakers of Arabic; Originally Devised and Taught at Madinah Islaamic University’ (3 Volumes ; Arabic-English / Arabic-Urdu) . (See Beginner’s Library)
4. ‘Key To
3 parts; Arabic-English / Arabic-Urdu.(See Beginner’s Library)
5. ‘Key To Exercises of
Answer Books for the Exercises: 3 parts(See Beginner’s Library)
6. ‘Teachers’ Guides To
Teaching notes & methods as employed at Madinah Islaamic University; Advanced lexical & grammatical notes for teachers and advanced students; Additional exercises etc (3 Volumes).(See Advanced Library)
7. ‘A Glossary of Words Used In
Arabic-English Dictionary’ (See Beginner’s Library)
8.
Collection of 20 short and easy Hadiiths with Lexical & Grammatical Notes (Arabic-only) (See Beginner’s Library)
9.
Collection of 20 Hadiiths (short, medium & lengthy) With Lexical & Grammatical Notes (Arabic-only). (See Book Fair under Arba”uuna Hadiithan)
10.
11. ‘From Esfahan To Madinah In Search of Truth: Salmaan al-Faarisi’s Hadiith رضي اللهُ عنه ‘ – Inspiring account with Lexical & Grammatical Notes (Arabic-English). (See Book Fair)
12.
With Lexical & Grammatical Notes (Arabic release of number 11). (See Book Fair)
13.
Hadiith detailing crucial event in history: Umm Salamah’s Hadiith رضي الله عنها With Lexical & Grammatical Notes (Arabic-only) (See Book Fair)
14. ‘Both These Lights Emanate From the Same Niche – With Lexical & Grammatical Notes’ (Arabic-English release of number 13) (See Book Fair under Both These Lights)
15.
Astonishing, lengthy Hadiith of Abuu Sufyaan رضي اللهُ عنه with Lexical & Grammatical Notes (Arabic-only) (See Book Fair)
16.
Heart-felt lengthy Hadiith with Lexical & Grammatical Notes and points of benefit from the works of Imaam Ibn Hajr al-”Asqalaaniyy and Imaam al-Nawawiyy رحمهما الله (Arabic-only). (See Book Fair)
17.
Rich volume of 40 aHaadiith (short, medium and lengthy narrations) – With Lexical & Grammatical Notes (Arabic-only) (See Book Fair)
18.
Advanced Qur’aanic Arabic Course – Lexical & Grammatical Exposition of entire Suurah Yuusuf (Arabic-only) (See Advanced Library)
19. Selections From the Glorious Qur’aan – Advanced Qur’aanic Arabic Course - With Lexical & Grammatical Notes, DVDs and Audio CD (Arabic-English). (See Advanced Library)
20.
Advanced Qur’aanic Arabic Course – With Lexical & Grammatical Notes, DVDs & Audio CD (Arabic-English) (See Advanced Library)
21. ‘Madinah Arabic Reader : 8 Part Course for the Learning of Arabic as Taught at the Islaamic University, Madinah’ (Children’s version of number 3: Arabic-English) (See Book Fair)
22.
Arabic Reader For Children; 2 Volumes : Arabic-only
(See Book Fair)
23. Europe Speaks Arabic: A fascinating, profound publication, described by a journalist in a book review as “leaves the reader awe-struck!” ( See Book Fair)
For information on where to purchase, please go to the sections indicated.
